The first day of Otakon was a hoot, saw lots of old friends, made some new ones, and Rinu – if you want to catch a flight today, there’s still a chair behind the Yuricon table for you if you want it. ;-)
No news so far from Otakon, but bear in mind that I’m the last to know, stuck down in the DR without a computer. lol
Yuri Anime
An anime has been announced in Japan for Maria Holic, a story about a girl who obsesses about Yuri and the girl she falls for, who is really a crossdressing guy who is an asshole. Perfect for people who like their Yuri unfulfilling on several levels. lol Thanks to Eric for pointing this out.
Alexandra tells us that El Cazador is also coming out in France, the first boxset is due out on August 20. There’s no French dub, just subtitles. She wonders though, why it was licensed before Madlax….
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Other Yuri News
Suzanna wants me to share the news that along with German and Japanese, the Maria-sama ga Miteru novels are out in Korean.
One of the questions we received yesterday at the Yuri Panel was whether we thought the novels would ever be licensed here. We agreed that yes, we do think that *eventually* they will, because as recently as last year, we were sure we’d never see the anime here – surer of that than of the novels. And here we are with the anime officially licensed and not sliced to shreds. So, there you go. ;-)
While I’m on it let me thank all the people who came to the panel – you were a great crowd, with great questions and we had a blast talking to you!
I’m off to spend the day destroying what’s left of my voice in the DR today – catch you there!
Wow, this may seem like premature judgment, but what is with the recent trend of making Yuri-themed series that somehow manage to stick in a guy as the main character and through some inane plot device, make him the focus of lesbian crushes/attraction? (Otoboku and now Maria Holic; even Kashimashi, as cute as I think that series is, annoyed me somewhat with how the writers bent over backwards to show that Tomari and Yasuna were really straight-honestly, not being capable of seeing men?). Who knows, maybe with such lowered expectations, I might enjoy Maria Holic. I’m willing to enjoy it for what it is as long as the Yuri fan girl doesn’t fall in love with the cross-dressing guy.
I don’t really think it’s a recent trend. It’s kind of a standard of gender-bendy seinen or shounen anime, really. And as Yuri goes, the not-quite-really Yuri couple is far more common that two girls or women who actually love one another and who are both human and not related.
For some Yuri news – Matt Thorn has created a gallery of gorgeous vintage Yuri images (pre-WWII, probably should be called Esu) available at his blog:
http://matt-thorn.com/wordpress/?p=64
oh god that plot for Maria Holic sounds terrible. if the main plot is about the Yuri fanatic girl hooking up with the cross dressing loser im going completely stay away from this series.